Quick report
- Slope Angle
- 40°
Avalanche
- Slab Width
- 76 m
- Weak Layer
- Density Change
- Trigger Type
- Skier
- Vertical Fall
- 107 m
- Avalanche Type
- Hard Slab
- Slab Thickness
- 41 cm
- Trigger Detail
- Unintentionally Triggered
- Start Zone Aspect
- Northeast
- Avalanche Problem
- Wind Slab
- Start Zone Elevation
- 3109 m
Traversing out to Cardiac. 1 skier already through. Fractured occurred with 2 trailing skiers on slope. No injuries, one caught, the other skied it through skins on. Upside down wind packed snow. Sketchy.
UAC comments
We visited this avalanche today (March 9th). What really stood out to me was the width of this slide. It was easily 250 feet wide or more. It was the result of down slope winds that formed a wind slab on top of soft snow that fell during the Sunday/Monday storm (March 5/6). As we approached the site, the stratigraphy was obvious (always is in hindsight) as our skis punched through the wind slab into the softer snow underneath it.
The wind slab was really hard and the snow underneath was really soft. This combination alone can makes good avalanches; however..... I don't think we heard of or observed any faceting of the new snow on Tuesday, but it's entirely possible. This place can get warm then cool significantly which could have faceted the snow surface just a little bit. It was hard to tell looking at the snow crystals. They were mostly broken, decomposing stellars.
Isolated problem and I would be surprised to see more like it.
Photos by A. Nassetta
Incident
- Number Caught
- 1